Please Help -SL2 with Battery grip

[Guest]

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Hi all,

I just picked up my SL2 with the battery grip.  With my SL you didn’t have to have a battery in the body itself.  You could simply have the battery in the grip only and the camera would turn on.  It seems this is not the case with SL2.  I have to have a battery in the body as well as the grip otherwise it wouldn’t turn on.  Is this a change in the new firmware or do I have faulty body or camera?

I do get two battery icon on the small upper display though and the camera seems to function otherwise.

Thanks,

 

[caissa]

Yes, a change.

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[Guest]

Thank you for your reply.  I am assuming you have had the same experience.  That is really a change for the worse.  I don’t fancy taking the battery out of the body having to remove the grip first every time I store the camera.  I tend to remove the battery from the camera if I am not using it for longer than a week.  I hope Leica changes this in a firmware update.

[Guest]

Also, another Smaller issue I have encountered is that there seems to be tiny wiggle room for the grip battery door.  When closed or open it moves a tiny bit if you hand happens to touch it.  I don’t remember the same with SL battery grip. Can someone who also has the grip please also check to see that this is a design “feature”.

Thank you

[sillbeers15]

I too took delivery of my SL2 with battery grip and two more additional batteries. I did the same practice on my SL earlier so I was not aware of the changes as I've always loaded two batteries. The SL2 is obviously taking up more electrical juice and faster, I see more immediate needs for more than one battery. Btw if you do not drain the first battery, you do not need to remove it from camera body for charging. Furthermore for SL2 you can charge the batteries via camera without removing both batteries.

[sillbeers15]

4 minutes ago, maziatr said:

Also, another Smaller issue I have encountered is that there seems to be tiny wiggle room for the grip battery door.  When closed or open it moves a tiny bit if you hand happens to touch it.  I don’t remember the same with SL battery grip. Can someone who also has the grip please also check to see that this is a design “feature”.

Thank you

I did not have such encounter.

[caissa]

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I use USB battery banks instead of a grip. They can be used directly with the SL2 or S1R. This is no real solution for you, but it will help to reduce the frequency of removing the battery. Also it is possible to recharge in camera when the camera is off, no need to take it out. And I never remove the battery during longer inactivity. I think it is not really necessary.

Maybe you can return the grip ?!

Edited November 28, 2019 by caissa

[Guest]

4 hours ago, sillbeers15 said:

I too took delivery of my SL2 with battery grip and two more additional batteries. I did the same practice on my SL earlier so I was not aware of the changes as I've always loaded two batteries. The SL2 is obviously taking up more electrical juice and faster, I see more immediate needs for more than one battery. Btw if you do not drain the first battery, you do not need to remove it from camera body for charging. Furthermore for SL2 you can charge the batteries via camera without removing both batteries.

Thank you for your response.  I have always though it was necessary to remove the batteries if one doesn’t use the camera for a few weeks or longer.  Also, I think charging the battery using the provided charger is faster and you don’t need to buy a power bank to charge the batteries while they are housed inside the camera.

Edited November 28, 2019 by Guest

[Guest]

3 hours ago, caissa said:

I use USB battery banks instead of a grip. They can be used directly with the SL2 or S1R. This is no real solution for you, but it will help to reduce the frequency of removing the battery. Also it is possible to recharge in camera when the camera is off, no need to take it out. And I never remove the battery during longer inactivity. I think it is not really necessary.

Maybe you can return the grip ?!

I like the grip for its added comfort 

Edited November 28, 2019 by Guest

[Guest]

3 hours ago, sillbeers15 said:

I did not have such encounter.

So when the battery door is shut there is zero wiggle?  Can you please test it just in case you may have missed it.

Thanks

[sillbeers15]

44 minutes ago, maziatr said:

So when the battery door is shut there is zero wiggle?  Can you please test it just in case you may have missed it.

Thanks

sure. I'll test and let you know later.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, sillbeers15 said:

sure. I'll test and let you know later.

Many thanks 

[MediaFotografie]

just a short question: Does USB Charging works for both batteries or only the one inside the camera?

thanks! 

[sillbeers15]

18 minutes ago, mediafotografie said:

just a short question: Does USB Charging works for both batteries or only the one inside the camera?

thanks! 

Good question. I have yet tried, so no answer yet.

[Guest]

I just been to a Leica store and here grip they have also has a small wiggle room for its battery door.

What power bank do you use for USB charging and will be slower than the dedicated charger?

Edited November 28, 2019 by Guest

[sillbeers15]

11 hours ago, maziatr said:

So when the battery door is shut there is zero wiggle?  Can you please test it just in case you may have missed it.

Thanks

I've just checked on my battery grip's battery cover door. There is a approximately 1mm freeplay in the direction of 'front to back of camera' direction only. Any other direction does not result in any level of movement. The same freeplay also take place when the door is at the open position. As long as the freeplay is not excessive, I do not think you should have any concern on functionality.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, sillbeers15 said:

I've just checked on my battery grip's battery cover door. There is a approximately 1mm freeplay in the direction of 'front to back of camera' direction only. Any other direction does not result in any level of movement. The same freeplay also take place when the door is at the open position. As long as the freeplay is not excessive, I do not think you should have any concern on functionality.

Thank you for checking.  That is exactly like mine.  Was the same with the demo grip in the Leica store so I am good.

[Jk1002]

So what I am reading here is the following:

- You have to have a battery in the camera, loading one into the grip is not enough

- You can charge both batteries via the USB C

Questions I have, I haven't worked with grip since Nikon D80 days so pardon my ignorance:

- Can I choose which battery should supply power to the camera? Or is it an auto automated process running down the battery with the least power first or is it some other logic?

- Do we think that I have to have a battery in the camera itself is a bug? I would think there are quite a few users who prefer the ergonomics of the grip  and do not want the additional weight of the battery

- Compared to other cameras like Canon or Sony is the wobbliness that was mentioned multiple times on this forum OK or worse?

 Cheers

JK

 

 

 

[caissa]

AFAIK the SL2 always needs a internal battery and I do not regard this as a problem or even an error. (No official answer). For additional energy an external battery bank (USB PD) is the better solution. (Much lower cost, much bigger capacity.). But maybe you want a grip for ergonomics ...   (I find it too expensive and use the SL2 without.)

Edited June 6, 2020 by caissa

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[scott kirkpatrick]

I had to check.  And you are right.  Even with an external battery plugged in, the SL2 goes dark if its internal battery is removed.

I suspect that the reason for the change from the SL (which would work with no internal battery but a battery in the add-on grip) is that now there is an external input for charging batteries, so perhaps just lashing the two batteries in parallel wasn't safe any more.  At least it makes things more complex.

Edited June 7, 2020 by scott kirkpatrick